Competition entry via label

ABSTRACT

A product label for enabling entry to a competition, the product label comprising: machine-readable coded data indicative of at least an identity of the label, said machine-readable coded data being readable by a sensing device as the sensing device is moved across the product label, thereby to produce interaction data for enabling the competition entry; human-readable information pertaining to the competition, the human-readable information being at least partially coincident with the machine-readable coded data, the human-readable information including at least one field element that has a corresponding zone defined in relation to it in a page description stored in a remote computer system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/575,172,filed May 23, 2000.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to the field of promotional competitionsfor retail sale of product items, typically high volume, low costgrocery items. In particular, the invention relates to the use ofinvisible product tagging.

CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present inventionare disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by theapplicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with thepresent application:

10/815,621, 10/815,630, 10/815,637, 10/815,638, 10/815,640, 10/815,642,10/815,643, 10/815,644, 10/815,618, 10/815,639, 10/815,609, 10/815,627,10/815,626, 10/815,610, 10/815,611, 10/815,623, 10/815,622, 10/815,629,10/815,647, 10/815,634, 10/815,362, 10/815,631, 10/815,648, 10/815,641,10/815,645, 10/815,646, 10/815,617, 10/815,620, 10/815,615, 10/815,613,10/815,633, 10/815,619, 10/815,616, 10/815,614, 10/815,625, 10/815,624,10/815,628, 10/815,636, 10/815,649, 10/815,635.

CROSS REFERENCES

Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present inventionare disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by theapplicant or assignee of the present application: The disclosures of allof these co-pending applications and granted patents are incorporatedherein by cross-reference.

10/409,876 10/409,848 10/409,845 09/575,197 09/575,195 09/575,15909/575,132 09/575,123 09/575,148 09/575,130 09/575,165 09/575,15309/693,415 09/575,118 09/609,139 09/608,970 09/575,116 09/575,14409/575,139 09/575,186 09/575,185 09/609,039 09/663,579 09/663,59909/607,852 09/575,191 09/693,219 09/575,145 09/607,656 09/693,28009/609/132 09/693,515 09/663,701 09/575,192 09/663,640 09/609,30309/610,095 09/609,596 09/693,705 09/693,647 09/721,895 09/721,89409/607,843 09/693,690 09/607,605 09/608,178 09/609,553 09/609,23309/609,149 09/608,022 09/575,181 09/722,174 09/721,896 10/291,52210/291,517 10/291,523 10/291,471 10/291,470 10/291,819 10/291,48110/291,509 10/291,825 10/291,519 10/291,575 10/291,557 10/291,66110/291,558 10/291,587 10/291,818 10/291,576 10/291,589 10/291,5266,644,545 6,609,653 6,651,879 10/291,555 10/291,510 19/291,59210/291,542 10/291,820 10/291,516 10/291,363 10/291,487 10/291,52010/291,521 10/291,556 10/291,821 10/291,525 10/291,586 10/291,82210/291,524 10/291,553 10/291,511 10/291,585 10/291,374 10/685,52310/685,583 10/685,455 10/685,584 10/757,600 09/575,193 09/575,15609/609,232 09/607,844 09/607,657 09/693,593 10/743,671 09/928,05509/927,684 09/928,108 09/927,685 09/927,809 09/575,183 09/575,16009/575,150 09/575,169 6,644,642 6,502,614 6,622,999 09/575,14910/322,450 6,549,935 NPN004US 09/575,187 09/575,155 6,591,884 6,439,70609/575,196 09/575,198 09/722,148 09/722,146 09/721,861 6,290,3496,428,155 09/575,146 09/608,920 09/721,892 09/722,171 09/721,85809/722,142 10/171,987 10/202,021 10/291,724 10/291,512 10/291,55410/659,027 10/659,026 09/693,301 09/575,174 09/575,163 09/693,21609/693,341 09/693,473 09/722,087 09/722,141 09/722,175 09/722,14709/575,168 09/722,172 09/693,514 09/721,893 09/722,088 10/291,57810/291,823 10/291,560 10/291,366 10/291,503 10/291,469 10/274,81709/575,154 09/575,129 09/575,124 09/575,188 09/721,862 10/120,44110/291,577 10/291,718 10/291,719 10/291,543 10/291,494 10/292,60810/291,715 10/291,559 10/291,660 10/409,864 10/309,358 10/410,48410/683,151 10/683,040 09/575,189 09/575,162 09/575,172 09/575,17009/575,171 09/575,161 10/291,716 10/291,547 10/291,538 10/291,71710/291,827 10/291,548 10/291,714 10/291,544 10/291,541 10/291,58410/291,579 10/291,824 10/291,713 10/291,545 10/291,546 09/693,38809/693,704 09/693,510 09/693,336 09/693,335 10/181,496 10/274,11910/309,185 10/309,066 10/778,090 10/778,056 10/778,058 10/778,06010/778,059 10/778,063 10/778,062 10/778,061 10/778,057 10/782,89410/782,895 10/786,631 10/793,933 10/804,034

Some application has been listed by docket numbers, these will bereplace when application number are known.

BACKGROUND

Due to the significant proliferation of low cost retail outlets forstaples and other consumables, there has developed a wide range ofmarketing schemes to attract customers to individual stores or specificproducts. These schemes are not directly based on product or pricedifferentiation. For instance, most customers are familiar with therange of competitions that promote products. These competitionstypically require a customer to send in an entry form. Many customerscannot be bothered submitting the entry forms so the of the promotion isundermined.

Other competitions or promotions require the collection of tokens thatmay be redeemed for a prize. There are also instant win competitionsthat alert a customer to prize when they peel off a label, open a cap,or similar action. In some cases it is necessary to provide demographicdata before the prize can be redeemed.

OBJECT

It is an object of the invention to provide the public with a usefulalternative to existing product promotion competitions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingentry to a competition via machine-readable coded data on an entry formon a printed label of a product, the method including the steps of:receiving, in a computer system, interaction data from a sensing device,the interaction data representing interaction of the sensing device withthe coded data on the entry form, the interaction data allowing thecompetition entry to be electronically captured in the computer system;and transmitting the competition entry to a competition administrator.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingentry to a competition via a printed label of a product, the labelincluding: machine-readable coded data relating to an identity of theproduct label; and human-readable information relating to thecompetition, the method including the steps of: using a sensing device,reading at least some of the coded data while the sensing device is usedby a user to draw or write on the interface, and generating interactiondata based on the read coded data, the interaction data being indicativeof a position of the sensing device relative to the interface and of theidentity of the product label; receiving, in a computer system, theinteraction data from the sensing device; and transmitting competitionentry information based on the interaction data to a competitionadministrator, the competition administrator being configured to recorda competition entry based on the competition entry information.

In another aspect the present invention provides a system for enablingcompetition entry using machine-readable coded data on a printedcompetition entry form on a label of a product, and a sensing deviceconfigured to sense at least some of the coded data from a form andgenerating interaction data, said interaction data representinginteraction of the sensing device with the coded data, the systemincluding a computer system configured and programmed to: receive theinteraction data and electronically capture the competition entry on thebasis of the interaction data; and transmit the competition entry to acompetition administrator.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for enablingcompetition entry via a product label including human-readableinformation relating to a competition and machine-readable coded datarelating to an identity of the label, and a sensing device configured tosense the machine-readable coded data as the sensing device is used tointeract with the product label, and to generate interaction data basedat least partly on the sensed coded data, the system including acomputer system configured and programmed to: receive the interactiondata from the sensing device; correlate the interaction data with acompetition; and record an entry in the competition based on thecorrelation.

In another aspect the present invention provides a product labelincluding coded data and human-readable information, the label beingconfigured for use with the methods and systems of the above paragraphs.

In a second aspect the present invention provides a product label forenabling entry to a competition, the product label comprising:machine-readable coded data indicative of at least an identity of thelabel, said machine-readable coded data being readable by a sensingdevice as the sensing device is moved across the product label, therebyto produce interaction data for enabling the competition entry;human-readable information pertaining to the competition, thehuman-readable information being at least partially coincident with themachine-readable coded data, the human-readable information including atleast one field element that has a corresponding zone defined inrelation to it in a page description stored in a remote computer system.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingentry to a competition using a product label that includeshuman-readable information relating to a competition andmachine-readable coded data relating to an identity of the label, thehuman-readable information including at least one field element that hasa corresponding zone defined in relation to it in a page descriptionstored in a remote computer system, the method including the steps of,using a sensing device, of: sensing at least some of the coded data asthe sensing device is used to interact with at least one of the at leastone field elements; using the sensed coded data to generate interactiondata representing the identity of the label and a position of thesensing device relative to the interface surface; and transmitting theinteraction data to a computer system for enabling entry to thecompetition via the computer system determining that the interactiondata represents interaction of the sensing device with at least one ofthe at least one field elements.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for enablingcompetition entry using a printed product label, the system comprising:a sensing device configured to: sense coded data from the label; andgenerate interaction data representing interaction of the sensing devicewith the coded data, wherein the form comprises regions selected fromthe group comprising information fields, buttons, and entry fields; anda computer system configured to receive the interaction data andcorrelate the interaction data with a competition.

In another aspect the present invention provides a system forcompetition entry using printed labels, the system comprising: a productlabel including human-readable information relating to a competition andmachine-readable coded information relating to an identity of the label,wherein the product label further comprises regions selected from thegroup consisting of information fields, buttons, and entry fields; asensing device configured to sense the machine-readable coded data asthe sensing device is moved across the product label, and to generateinteraction data based on the sensed coded data; a computer systemprogrammed to correlate the interaction data with a competition and torecord an entry in the competition based on the correlated interactiondata.

In a third aspect the present invention provides a method of enablinganonymous entry to a competition via a printed competition entry formthat includes machine-readable coded data, the method including thesteps, performed in a computer system, of: receiving interaction datarepresenting interaction of a sensing device with the coded data, theinteraction data enabling the competition entry to be electronicallycaptured in the computer system; assigning a competition alias ID to thecompetition entry; and transmitting the competition entry to acompetition administrator with the competition alias ID, therebyenabling the anonymous entry to the competition.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of enablinganonymous entry to a competition via a printed product label thatincludes human-readable information relating to the competition andmachine-readable coded data relating to an identity of the label, themethod including the steps of: receiving, in a computer system,interaction data generated by a sensing device, the interaction databeing derived from at least some of the machine-readable coded datasensed by a sensing device in response to a user using the sensingdevice to draw, write, point or click on the label, the interaction databeing indicative of a position of the sensing device relative to thesensed coded data; assigning a competition alias ID to the interactiondata; and transmitting the interaction data and the competition alias IDto a competition administrator for correlation with the competition,thereby enabling anonymous entry to the competition.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for enablinganonymous competition entry, the system including: a sensing deviceconfigured to: sense machine-readable coded data from a form as thesensing device is used to interact with the form; and generateinteraction data representing the interaction of the sensing device withthe coded data; and a computer system configured and programmed to:receive the interaction data; correlate the interaction data with acompetition, and assign a competition alias ID to the interaction data,thereby enabling the anonymous competition entry.

In another aspect the present invention provides a system for anonymouscompetition entry via: a product label including human-readableinformation relating to the competition and machine-readable codedinformation relating to an identity of the label; and a sensing deviceconfigured to: sense at least some of the machine-readable coded data asthe sensing device is moved across the product label; and generateinteraction data based at least partly on the sensed coded data; thesystem including a computer system configured and programmed to:

-   (a) receive the interaction data from the sensing device;-   (b) correlate the interaction data with a competition;-   (c) assign a competition alias ID to the interaction data; and-   (d) record an entry in the competition.

In a fourth aspect the present invention provides a method of: enablingan entrant to enter a competition; and limiting subsequent communicationbetween a competition administrator and the entrant; via a sensingdevice interacting with machine-readable coded data on a printedcompetition entry form, the method comprising the steps, performed in acomputer system, of:

-   (a) receiving interaction data representing the interaction of the    sensing device with the coded data, the interaction data enabling    the competition entry to be electronically captured in the computer    system;-   (b) transmitting the competition entry to the competition    administrator; and-   (c) enabling transmission of up to a predetermined number of    electronic messages from the competition administrator to the    entrant.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for:enabling an entrant to enter a competition; and limiting subsequentcommunication between a competition administrator and the entrant; via asensing device interacting with machine-readable coded data on a printedcompetition entry form, the system comprising a computer systemconfigured and programmed to:

-   (a) receive interaction data representing the interaction of the    sensing device with the coded data, the interaction data enabling    the competition entry to be electronically captured in the computer    system;-   (b) transmit the competition entry to the competition administrator;    and-   (c) enable transmission of up to a predetermined number of    electronic messages from the competition administrator to the    entrant.

In a fifth aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingredemption of a first coupon, the first coupon being printed on surfaceand including machine-readable coded data that can be sensed by asensing device configured to generate interaction data based on thesensed coded data, the method comprising the steps, performed in acomputer system, of: receiving the interaction data representinginteraction of the sensing device with the coded data, the interactiondata enabling the first coupon to be identified in the computer system;transmitting information identifying the first coupon to a couponadministrator that is configured to redeem the first coupon on the basisof the information.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for enablingredemption of a first coupon, the first coupon being printed on asurface and including machine-readable coded data that can be sensed bya sensing device configured to generate interaction data based on thesensed coded data, the system including a computer system programmed andconfigured to: receive the interaction data representing interaction ofthe sensing device with the coded data, the interaction data enablingthe first coupon to be identified in the computer system; transmitinformation identifying the first coupon to a coupon administrator thatis configured to redeem the first coupon on the basis of theinformation.

In a sixth aspect the present invention provides a method of enablinganonymous electronic redemption of a token printed as part of a productlabel, the product label including machine-readable coded data, themethod including the steps, performed in a computer system, of:receiving interaction data representing interaction of a sensing devicewith the coded data, the interaction data enabling electronic captureof: token data of the token; and a product identifier associated withthe product label; assigning an alias ID to the token data; andtransmitting the token data, the product identifier and the alias ID toa token administrator configured to redeem the token electronically.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of enablinga user to anonymously redeem a token via interaction of a sensing devicewith a product label, the product label including human-readableinformation relating to the token and machine-readable coded datarelating to an identity of the label, the method comprising the stepsof: sensing, while the user responds to the human-readable informationby interacting drawing on the label with the sensing device, at leastsome of the coded data with the sensing device; generating, in thesensing device, interaction data comprising an identity of the label anda position of the sensing device relative to the coded data, theinteraction data being based at least partially on the sensed codeddata; and sending, to a computer system, the interaction data forenabling the computer system to transmit the interaction data to acompetition administrator that correlates the interaction data with thetoken offer and records a token redemption, wherein the computer systemis configured to transmit the token offer to the competitionadministrator in such a way that the user remains anonymous with respectto the competition administrator.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for enablinganonymous electronic redemption of a token on a product label, via asensing device configured to sense coded data from the product label andgenerate interaction data representing the interaction of the sensingdevice with the coded data, the system including a computer systemconfigured and programmed to:

-   -   receive the interaction data;    -   correlate the interaction data with a token offer and a product        identifier;    -   assign an alias ID to the token data; and    -   transmit the token data, the product identifier and the alias ID        to a token administrator configured to redeem the token        electronically.

In another aspect the present invention provides a system for enablinganonymous and electronic redemption of a token forming part of a productlabel, the product label including human-readable information relatingto the token and machine-readable coded information relating to anidentity of the label, the system comprising a sensing device configuredto: sense at least some of the coded data while a user responds to thehuman-readable information by interacting with the label; generateinteraction data comprising an identity of the label and a position ofthe sensing device relative to the coded data; send, to a computersystem, the interaction data for enabling the computer system totransmit the interaction data to a competition administrator thatcorrelates the interaction data with the token offer and records a tokenredemption, wherein the computer system is configured to transmit thetoken offer to the competition administrator in such a way that the userremains anonymous with respect to the competition administrator.

In a seventh aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingelectronic redemption a plurality of tokens, wherein each the pluralityof tokens is disposed on a product label and includes coded data thatcan be used to determine a unique product identifier of the productlabel with which it is associated, the method including the steps of:

-   -   using a sensing device, and for each of the plurality of tokens:    -   (a) generating interaction data by sensing at least some of the        coded data of the token, the interaction data representing        interaction of the sensing device with the coded data; and    -   (b) forwarding the interaction data to a computer system, for        enabling the product identifier associated with the product        label to be captured electronically in the computer system,        thereby enabling the computer system to transmit further        information to a token administrator; and    -   receiving token redemption information from the token        administrator after a predetermined combination of the further        information has been transmitted to the token administrator.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingelectronic redemption of a plurality of tokens, wherein each theplurality of tokens is disposed on a product label and includes codeddata that can be used to determine a unique product identifier of theproduct label with which it is associated, and wherein a sensing devicehas been used, for each of the plurality of product labels, to:

-   -   (a) generate interaction data by sensing at least some of the        coded data of the token, the interaction data representing        interaction of the sensing device with the coded data; and    -   (b) forward the interaction data to a computer system;    -   the method including the steps, performed in the computer        system, of:    -   receiving a set of the interaction data corresponding to each of        the labels;    -   generating further information based on each set of the        interaction data, the further information identifying a token        administrator; and    -   transmitting at least some of the further information to the        token administrator for enabling determination of when a        predetermined combination of tokens has been interacted with        using the sensing device.

In another aspect the present invention provides a system for enablingelectronic redemption of a plurality of tokens, wherein each of theplurality of tokens is disposed on a product label and includes codeddata that can be used to determine a unique product identifier of thelabel, the system including:

-   -   a sensing device configured to, as it used to interact with each        of the plurality of tokens:    -   (a) generate interaction data by sensing at least some of the        coded data of the token, the interaction data representing        interaction of the sensing device with the coded data; and    -   (b) forward the interaction data to a computer system, for        enabling the product identifier associated with the product        label to be captured electronically in the computer system,        thereby enabling the computer system to transmit further        information to a token administrator; and    -   receiving token redemption information from the token        administrator after a predetermined combination of the further        information has been transmitted to the token administrator.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for enablinganonymous redemption of a plurality of tokens, wherein each theplurality of tokens is disposed on a product label and includes codeddata that can be used to determine a unique product identifier of theproduct label with which it is associated, and wherein a sensing devicehas been used, for each of the plurality of product labels, to:

-   -   (a) generate interaction data by sensing at least some of the        coded data of the token, the interaction data representing        interaction of the sensing device with the coded data; and    -   (b) forward the interaction data to a computer system;    -   the system including a computer system configured and programmed        to:    -   receive a set of the interaction data corresponding to each of        the labels;    -   generate further information based on each set of the        interaction data, the further information identifying a token        administrator; and    -   transmit at least some of the further information to the token        administrator for enabling determination of when a predetermined        combination of tokens has been interacted with using the sensing        device.

In another aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingelectronic redemption of a plurality of tokens, wherein each theplurality of tokens is disposed on a product label and includes codeddata that can be used to determine a unique product identifier of theproduct label with which it is associated, and wherein a sensing devicehas been used, for each of the plurality of product labels, to:

-   -   (a) generate interaction data by sensing at least some of the        coded data of the token, the interaction data representing        interaction of the sensing device with the coded data; and    -   (b) forward the interaction data to a computer system;    -   the method including the steps, performed in a token        administrator, of:    -   receiving further information based on each set of the        interaction data;    -   determining when a predetermined combination of tokens has been        interacted with using the sensing device; and    -   outputting an indication that the predetermined combination has        been interacted with.

In an eighth aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingsubmission of form data to an application via a printed form, theprinted form having coded data readable by a sensing device as thesensing device is used to interact with the form, the method includingthe steps, performed in a computer system, of:

-   -   receiving, from the sensing device: interaction data        representing interaction of the sensing device with the coded        data, the interaction data enabling the form data to be        electronically captured in the computer system; and a sensing        device ID of the sensing device;    -   allocating a temporary registration to the sensing device ID or        to a user associated with the sensing device, the registration        including a return telecommunication address associated with the        sensing device ID or the user;    -   transmitting the form data to the application.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingsubmission of form data to an application via a printed form, theprinted form including human-readable information relating to the formand machine-readable coded data relating to an identity of the form, themethod including the steps, performed in a computer system, of:

-   -   receiving, from the sensing device, interaction data and sensing        device identification information, the interaction data        including the identity of the form and having been generated by        the sensing device based on coded data sensed in response to the        sensing device being used to interact with the label;    -   allocating, on the basis of the sensing device identification        information, a temporary registration to the sensing device or a        user associated with the sensing device, the registration        including a return telecommunication address associated with the        sensing device or the user; and    -   transmitting at least some of the interaction data to the        application.

In another aspect the present invention provides a system for enablingsubmission of form data to an application, the system comprising:

-   -   a sensing device having a sensing device ID, the sensing device        being configured to sense coded data on a form and generate        interaction data representing interaction of the sensing device        with the coded data, and having a transmitter for transmitting        the sensing device ID and interaction data to a computer system;        and    -   a computer system configured and programmed to:    -   receive the sensing device ID and the interaction data;    -   allocate a temporary registration to the sensing device ID or to        a user associated with the sensing device, the registration        including a return telecommunication address associated with the        sensing device ID or the user;    -   transmit the form data to the application.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for enablingsubmission of form data via a form that includes machine-readable codedinformation relating to an identity of the label, a sensing devicehaving sensed at least some of the machine-readable coded data as thesensing device was used to interact with the product label and havinggenerated interaction data based at least partly on the sensed codeddata, the interaction data including at least the identity, the sensingdevice including a sensing device ID;

-   -   the system comprising a computer system configured and        programmed to:    -   receive the sensing device ID and the interaction data;    -   allocate a temporary registration to the sensing device ID or to        a user associated with the sensing device, the registration        including a return telecommunication address associated with the        sensing device ID or the user;    -   transmit the form data to the application.

In a ninth aspect the present invention provides a method of validatingentry to a competition via interaction of a sensing device with aprinted competition entry form comprising coded data indicative of aunique product identifier, the method comprising the steps, performed ina computer system, of:

-   -   receiving, from the sensing device, interaction data        representing interaction of the sensing device with the coded        data, the interaction data including at least the unique product        identifier and enabling a competition entry to be electronically        captured in the computer system; and    -   transmitting the product identifier and the competition entry to        a competition administrator for validation of the competition        entry at the competition administrator by verification of the        product identifier.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a method of enablingvalidation of a competition entry via a product label, the product labelincluding human-readable information relating to a competition andmachine-readable coded data relating to an identity of the label andincluding a product identifier, the method including the steps of:

-   -   receiving, in a computer system, interaction data from the        sensing device, the interaction data including the product        identifier and movement data generated by the sensing device in        response to the sensing device being used to draw or write on        the product label, the interaction data having been generated by        sensing at least some of the machine-readable coded data; and    -   transmitting the interaction data to a competition administrator        for validating the competition entry by verifying the product        identification.

In another aspect the present invention provides a system for validatingentry to a competition via interaction of a sensing device with aprinted competition entry form comprising coded data indicative of aunique product identifier, the system including a computer systemconfigured and programmed to:

-   -   receive, from the sensing device, interaction data representing        interaction of the sensing device with the coded data, the        interaction data including at least the unique product        identifier and enabling a competition entry to be electronically        captured in the computer system; and    -   transmit the product identifier and the competition entry to a        competition administrator for validation of the competition        entry at the competition administrator by verification of the        product identification.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a system for enablingvalidation of a competition entry via a product label, the product labelincluding human-readable information relating to a competition andmachine-readable coded data identifying a product identifier via aproduct identifier, the system including a computer system configuredand programmed to:

-   -   receive interaction data from the sensing device, the        interaction data including the product identifier and movement        data generated by the sensing device in response to the sensing        device being used to draw or write on the product label, the        interaction data having been generated by sensing at least some        of the machine-readable coded data; and    -   transmit the interaction data to a competition administrator for        validating the competition entry by verifying the product        identification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a relationship between a sample printed netpageand its online page description;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a netpage pen and its associatedtag-sensing field-of-view cone;

FIG. 3 is a schematic of competition entry interactions;

FIG. 4 shows the competition entry user interface flow;

FIG. 5 shows a competition entry form;

FIG. 6 shows a competition details form;

FIG. 7 shows an entry confirmation message;

FIG. 8 shows an entry status message;

FIG. 9 shows a prize claim form;

FIG. 10 shows the competition entry interaction detail;

FIG. 11 shows competition win interaction detail;

FIG. 12 is a schematic of prize redemption at a retailer;

FIG. 13 shows interaction detail for coupon-less prize collection;

FIG. 14 is a schematic of an instant win competition user interface;

FIG. 15 shows an instant win entry form;

FIG. 16 shows an instant win prize claim;

FIG. 17 shows interaction detail for anonymous prize collection using acoupon;

FIG. 18 shows a schematic of competition object management.

FIG. 19 shows a competition class diagram;

FIG. 20 shows a competition limits class diagram;

FIG. 21 shows a competition entry class diagram;

FIG. 22 shows a competition user class diagram;

FIG. 23 shows a default web terminal class diagram;

FIG. 24 shows a schematic view of a form class diagram;

FIG. 25 shows a schematic view of a digital ink class diagram;

FIG. 26 shows a schematic view of a field element specialization classdiagram;

FIG. 27 shows a schematic view of a checkbox field class diagram;

FIG. 28 shows a schematic view of a text field class diagram;

FIG. 29 shows a schematic view of a signature field class diagram;

FIG. 30 shows a flowchart of an input processing algorithm;

FIG. 30 a shows a detailed flowchart of one step of the flowchart ofFIG. 30; and

FIG. 31 shows a competition entry form class diagram

FIG. 32 shows a temporary user class diagram

FIG. 33 shows a schematic view of a hyperlink request class diagram;

FIG. 34 shows a schematic view of a hyperlink activation protocol.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The invention employs an optical tagging technology that has beendesignated “Hyperlabel™”. Hyperlabel™ is an optical tagging technologydesigned for uniquely identifying individual product items in the globalsupply chain. Hyperlabel™ consists of covering a large portion of thesurface of a product item with optically-readable invisible tags.Hyperlabel™ tags are applied during product manufacturer and/orpackaging.

In the preferred embodiment, the invention is configured to work withthe netpage networked computer system. It will be appreciated that notevery implementation will necessarily embody all or even most of thespecific details and extensions discussed below in relation to the basicsystem. However, the system is described in its most complete form toreduce the need for external reference when attempting to understand thecontext in which the preferred embodiments and aspects of the presentinvention operate.

In the netpage system a surface such as a page is printed with acollection of invisible tags, each tag a couple of millimeters indiameter. A tag uniquely identifies the surface on which it appears, aswell as its own position on the surface. The collection of tags on asurface thus defines a high-precision coordinate grid identifiably tiedto the particular surface. When read by a suitable sensing deviceoperated by a user, the tags allow the sensing device to determine itsown movement relative to the surface. When coupled with a description ofthe visible (and typically printed) content of the surface, thedescription allows the movement to be interpreted relative to thevisible surface content seen by the user, e.g. as a “press” on thevisible representation of a “button”. The tags are printed using aninfrared ink invisible to humans, while visible surface content isprinted using colored inks which are transparent in the infrared part ofthe spectrum.

For example, where a “print” function is implemented in the earlierembodiment, it is necessary to obtain a position of the tag (or moreprecisely, a position of the sensing device relative to the tag) and theidentity of the page encoded by the tag. This information is then usedin conjunction with a page description, usually by a remote server, todetermine that a “print a particular document” function is associatedwith the position of the sensing device on that particular page.

However, in an alternative embodiment, the function is encoded directlyand completely into the tag. For example, the tag can explicitly encodethe instruction to “print a particular document” directly into the tag'sdata, thereby avoiding the need for a translation of the page identityand sensing device position via the page description. This embodimenthas some advantages, including the fact that there is no need for anexternal lookup, and the fact that the same tags can be used indifferent documents to perform the same function. However, in somecircumstances this embodiment may be considered somewhat limiting due tothe absence of location and page information. For example, an absence oflocation information means that handwriting capture cannot be performedusing the tags as reference point relative to which the handwriting iscaptured.

The netpage sensing device operated by the user may be in the form of apen with a marking nib, and the movement of the pen may be interpretedas form input, such as handwritten text. Because the netpage systemcaptures marking input, it crucially distinguishes between differentinstances of the same surface content (such as a form).

It will be appreciated that it is not necessary to include a marking nibin cases where it is not necessary or desirable for a document to bemarked. For example, a nib-less sensing device can be used as anon-marking pointer. In its simplest form, this embodiment is just apoint-and-click device, designed to capture (for example) only a singleframe of tag information for decoding in response to the userdesignating a location on a Netpage page. As such, this pointer cannotbe used for handwriting capture, or for other applications in whichmovement of the sensing device over time must be tracked.

Alternatively, the pointer can be otherwise identical to the versionwith the nib, enabling capture of movement of the sensing device withoutmarking of the page.

Using an invisible (e.g. infrared) tagging scheme to uniquely identify aproduct item has the significant advantage that it allows the entiresurface of a product to be tagged; or a significant portion thereof,without impinging on the graphic design of the product's packaging orlabelling. If the entire product surface is tagged, then the orientationof the product doesn't affect its ability to be scanned, i.e. asignificant part of the line-of-sight disadvantage of a visible bar codeis eliminated. Furthermore, if the tags are compact and massivelyreplicated, then label damage no longer prevents scanning.

Hyperlabel™, then, consists of covering a large proportion of thesurface of a product item with optically-readable invisible tags. Whenthe tags utilise reflection or absorption in the infrared spectrum theyare also referred to as infrared identification (IRID) tags. EachHyperlabel™ tag uniquely identifies the product item on which itappears. The tag may directly encode the electronic product code (e.g.EPC) of the item, or may encode a surrogate ID which in turn identifiesthe product code via a database lookup. Each tag also optionallyidentifies its own position on the surface of the product item, toprovide the downstream consumer benefits of netpage interactivity.

Hyperlabel™ tags are applied during product manufacture and/or packagingusing digital printers. These may be add-on infrared printers whichprint the tags after the text and graphics have been printed by othermeans, or integrated color and infrared printers which print the tags,text and graphics simultaneously.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a printed netpage 1 represents an interactiveform that can be filled in by the user both physically, on the printedpage, and “electronically”, via communication between a sensing device(pen) and the netpage system. The example shows a “Request”formcontaining name and address fields and a submit button. The netpageconsists of graphic data 2 printed using visible ink, and coded data 3printed as a collection of tags 4 using invisible ink. The correspondingpage description 5, stored on the netpage network, describes theindividual elements of the netpage. In particular it describes the typeand spatial extent (zone) of each interactive element (i.e. text fieldor button in the example), to allow the netpage system to correctlyinterpret input via the netpage. The submit button 6, for example, has azone 7 which corresponds to the spatial extent of the correspondinggraphic 8.

The active sensing device of the netpage system is typically a pen ofthe type shown in FIG. 2. The pen, generally designated by referencenumeral 20, includes a housing 21 in the form of a plastics moldingdefining an interior space for mounting the pen components. The pen top22 is in operation rotatably mounted at one end 23 of the housing 21 toselect a nib 24, which may be an ink cartridge nib or non-markingstylus, through open end 25 of a metal end piece 26. The metal end piece26 is removable to enable ink cartridge replacement.

As described above, the inclusion of a marking nib is optional. It caneither simply be omitted, or replaced with a non-marking nib to enableaccurate visual and tactile feedback to the user regarding the positionof the sensing device on the page. As mentioned, the sensing device canalso operate in single (or low rate) frame capture such that continuousor frequent capture of movement of the sensing device relative to thepage using the tags is not possible.

A semi-transparent cover 27 is secured to the opposite end of thehousing 21. The cover 27 is also of molded plastics, and is formed fromsemi-transparent material in order to enable the user to view the statusof a tri-color LED mounted within the housing 21. The cover 27 includesa main part 27 a which substantially surrounds the end of the housing 21and a projecting portion 27 b which projects back from the main part 27a. A radio antenna is mounted behind the projecting portion 27 b, withinthe housing 21.

An infrared LED is mounted within the housing 21 for projecting infraredradiation onto a surface 28. An infrared image sensor is mounted withinthe housing 21 with field of view 29 for receiving radiation reflectedfrom the surface 28. A radio frequency chip, which includes an RFtransmitter and RF receiver, and a controller chip for controllingoperation of the pen 20, are also mounted within the housing.

Rubber grip pad 21 a is provided towards the end of the housing 21 toassist gripping the pen 20, and top 22 also includes a clip 21 b forclipping the pen 20 to a pocket.

The pen 20, uses the embedded controller, to capture and decode IRposition tags from a page via the image sensor. The image sensor is asolid-state device provided with an appropriate filter to permit sensingat only near-infrared wavelengths. The system is able to sense when thenib is in contact with the surface, and the pen is able to sense tags ata sufficient rate to capture human handwriting (i.e. at 200 dpi orgreater and 100 Hz or faster). Interaction data captured by the pen isencrypted and wirelessly transmitted to a base station, the base stationinterprets the data with respect to the (known) page structure.

The preferred embodiment of the netpage pen operates both as a normalmarking ink pen and as a non-marking stylus. The marking aspect,however, is not necessary for using the netpage system as a browsingsystem, such as when it is used as an Internet interface. Each netpagepen is registered with the netpage system and has a unique pen ID.

When either nib is in contact with a netpage, the pen determines itsposition and orientation relative to the page. The nib is attached to aforce sensor, and the force on the nib is interpreted relative to athreshold to indicate whether the pen is “up” or “down”. This allows aninteractive element on the page to be ‘clicked’ by pressing with the pennib, in order to request, say, information from a network. Furthermore,the force is captured as a continuous value to allow, say, the fulldynamics of a signature to be verified.

The pen determines the position and orientation of its nib on thenetpage by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, the area 28 of the page inthe vicinity of the nib. It decodes the nearest tag and computes theposition of the nib relative to the tag from the observed perspectivedistortion on the imaged tag and the known geometry of the pen optics.Although the position resolution of the tag may be low, because the tagdensity on the page is inversely proportional to the tag size, theadjusted position resolution is quite high, exceeding the minimumresolution required for accurate handwriting recognition.

Pen actions relative to a netpage are captured as a series of strokes. Astroke consists of a sequence of time-stamped pen positions on the page,initiated by a pen-down event and completed by the subsequent pen-upevent. A stroke is also tagged with a page ID of the netpage wheneverthe page ID changes, which, under normal circumstances, is at thecommencement of the stroke.

A sequence of captured strokes is referred to as digital ink. Digitalink forms the basis for the digital exchange of data, drawings andhandwriting, for online recognition of handwriting, and for onlineverification of signatures.

The pen is wireless and transmits digital ink to the base station, whichmay be a Personal Computer or a mobile phone, for example, via ashort-range radio link. The transmitted digital ink is encrypted forprivacy and security and packetized for efficient transmission, but isalways flushed on a pen-up event to ensure timely processing.

When the pen is out-of-range of a base station it buffers digital ink ininternal memory, which has a capacity of over ten minutes of continuoushandwriting. When the pen is once again within range of a base station,it transfers any buffered digital ink.

A pen can be registered with any number of base stations, but becauseall state data resides in netpages both on paper and on the network, itis largely immaterial which base station a pen is communicating with atany particular time.

A form defines a collection of related input fields used to capture arelated set of inputs through a printed netpage. A form allows a user tosubmit one or more parameters to an application software program runningon a server.

A form 867 is a group element 838 in the document hierarchy. Itultimately contains a set of terminal field elements 839. A forminstance 868 represents a printed instance of a form. It consists of aset of field instances 870 which correspond to the field elements 845 ofthe form. Each field instance has an associated value 871, whose typedepends on the type of the corresponding field element. Each field valuerecords input through a particular printed form instance, i.e. throughone or more printed netpages. The form class diagram is shown in FIG.24.

Each form instance has a status 872 which indicates whether the form isactive, frozen, submitted, void or expired. A form is active when firstprinted. A form becomes frozen once it is signed. A form becomessubmitted once one of its submission hyperlinks has been activated,unless the hyperlink has its “submit delta” attribute set. A formbecomes void when the user invokes a void form, reset form or duplicateform page command. A form expires when the time the form has been activeexceeds the form's specified lifetime. While the form is active, forminput is allowed. Input through a form which is not active is insteadcaptured in the background field 832 of the relevant page instance. Whenthe form is active or frozen, form submission is allowed. Any attempt tosubmit a form when the form is not active or frozen is rejected, andinstead elicits form status report.

Each form instance is associated (at reference numeral 59) with any forminstances derived from it, thus providing a version history. This allowsall but the latest version of a form in a particular time period to beexcluded from a search.

All input is captured as digital ink. Digital ink 873 consists of a setof timestamped stroke groups 874, each of which consists of a set ofstyled strokes 875. Each stroke consists of a set of timestamped penpositions 876, each of which also includes pen orientation and nibforce. The digital ink class diagram is shown in FIG. 25.

A field element 845 can be a checkbox field 877, a text field 878, adrawing field 879, or a signature field 880. The field element classdiagram is shown in FIG. 26. Any digital ink captured in a field's zoneis assigned to the field.

A checkbox field has an associated boolean value 881, as shown in FIG.27. Any mark (a tick, a cross, a stroke, a fill zigzag, etc.) capturedin a checkbox field's zone causes a true value to be assigned to thefield's value.

A text field has an associated text value 882, as shown in FIG. 28. Anydigital ink captured in a text field's zone is automatically convertedto text via online handwriting recognition, and the text is assigned tothe field's value. Online handwriting recognition is well-understood(see, for example, Tappert, C., C. Y. Suen and T. Wakahara, “The Stateof the Art in On-Line Handwriting Recognition”, IEEE Transactions onPattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 12, No. 8, August 1990,the contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference).

A signature field has an associated digital signature value 883, asshown in FIG. 29. Any digital ink captured in a signature field's zoneis automatically verified with respect to the identity of the owner ofthe pen, and a digital signature of the content of the form of which thefield part is generated and assigned to the field's value. The digitalsignature is generated using the pen user's private signature keyspecific to the application which owns the form. Online signatureverification is well-understood (see, for example, Plamondon, R. and G.Lorette, “Automatic Signature Verification and Writer Identification—TheState of the Art”, Pattern Recognition, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1989, thecontents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference).

A field element is hidden if its “hidden” attribute is set. A hiddenfield element does not have an input zone on a page and does not acceptinput. It can have an associated field value which is included in theform data when the form containing the field is submitted.

“Editing” commands, such as strike-through indicating deletion, can alsobe recognized in form fields.

Because the handwriting recognition algorithm works “online” (i.e. withaccess to the dynamics of the pen movement), rather than “offline” (i.e.with access only to a bitmap of pen markings), it can recognize run-ondiscretely-written characters with relatively high accuracy, without awriter-dependent training phase. A writer-dependent model of handwritingis automatically generated over time, however, and can be generatedup-front if necessary.

Digital ink, as already stated, consists of a sequence of strokes. Anystroke which starts in a particular element's zone is appended to thatelement's digital ink stream, ready for interpretation. Any stroke notappended to an object's digital ink stream is appended to the backgroundfield's digital ink stream.

Digital ink captured in the background field is interpreted as aselection gesture. Circumscription of one or more objects is generallyinterpreted as a selection of the circumscribed objects, although theactual interpretation is application-specific.

Table 1 summarises these various pen interactions with a netpage.

TABLE 1 Summary of pen interactions with a netpage Object Type Pen inputAction Hyperlink General Click Submit action to application Form ClickSubmit form to application Selection Click Submit selection toapplication Form field Checkbox Any mark Assign true to field TextHandwriting Convert digital ink to text; assign text to field DrawingDigital ink Assign digital ink to field Signature Signature Verifydigital ink signature; generate digital signature of form; assigndigital signature to field None — Circum- Assign digital ink to currentscription selection

The system maintains a current selection for each pen. The selectionconsists simply of the most recent stroke captured in the backgroundfield. The selection is cleared after an inactivity timeout to ensurepredictable behavior.

The raw digital ink captured in every field is retained on the netpagepage server and is optionally transmitted with the form data when theform is submitted to the application. This allows the application tointerrogate the raw digital ink should it suspect the originalconversion, such as the conversion of handwritten text. This can, forexample, involve human intervention at the application level for formswhich fail certain application-specific consistency checks. As anextension to this, the entire background area of a form can bedesignated as a drawing field. The application can then decide, on thebasis of the presence of digital ink outside the explicit fields of theform, to route the form to a human operator, on the assumption that theuser may have indicated amendments to the filled-in fields outside ofthose fields.

FIG. 30 shows a flowchart of the process of handling pen input relativeto a netpage. The process consists of receiving (at 884) a stroke fromthe pen; identifying (at 885) the page instance to which the page ID 50in the stroke refers; retrieving (at 886) the page description 5;identifying (at 887) a formatted element 835 (FIG. 24) whose zone thestroke intersects; determining (at 888) whether the formatted elementcorresponds to a field element, and if so appending (at 892) thereceived stroke to the digital ink of the field value 871 (FIG. 24),interpreting (at 893) the accumulated digital ink of the field, anddetermining (at 894) whether the field is part of a hyperlinked groupand if so activating (at 895) the associated hyperlink; alternativelydetermining (at 889) whether the formatted element corresponds to ahyperlink element and if so activating (at 895) the correspondinghyperlink; alternatively, in the absence of an input field or hyperlink,appending (at 890) the received stroke to the digital ink of thebackground field; and copying (at 891) the received stroke to thecurrent selection of the current pen, as maintained by the registrationserver.

FIG. 30 a shows a detailed flowchart of step 893 in the process shown inFIG. 30, where the accumulated digital ink of a field is interpretedaccording to the type of the field. The process consists of determining(at 896) whether the field is a checkbox and (at 897) whether thedigital ink represents a checkmark, and if so assigning (at 898) a truevalue to the field value; alternatively determining (at 899) whether thefield is a text field and if so converting (at 900) the digital ink tocomputer text, with the help of the appropriate registration server, andassigning (at 901) the converted computer text to the field value;alternatively determining (at 902) whether the field is a signaturefield and if so verifying (at 903) the digital ink as the signature ofthe pen's owner, with the help of the appropriate registration server,creating (at 904) a digital signature of the contents of thecorresponding form, also with the help of the registration server andusing the pen owner's private signature key relating to thecorresponding application, and assigning (at 905) the digital signatureto the field value.

Hyperlink Activation Protocol

A preferred embodiment of a hyperlink activation protocol is shown inFIG. 34.

When a user clicks on a netpage with a netpage pen, the pen communicatesthe click to the nearest netpage printer 10601. The click identifies thepage and a location on the page. The printer already knows the ID 1061of the pen from the pen connection protocol.

The printer determines, via the DNS, the network address of the pageserver 10010 a handling the particular page ID 10050. The address mayalready be in its cache if the user has recently interacted with thesame page. The printer then forwards the pen ID, its own printer ID10062, the page ID and click location to the page server.

The page server loads the page description identified by the page ID anddetermines which input element's zone, if any, the click lies in.Assuming the relevant input element is a hyperlink element, the pageserver then obtains the associated application ID 10064 and link ID10054, and determines, via the DNS, the network address of theapplication server hosting the application 10071.

The page server uses the pen ID 10061 to obtain the corresponding userID 10060 from the registration server 10011, and then allocates aglobally unique hyperlink request ID 10052 and builds a hyperlinkrequest 10934. The hyperlink request class diagram is shown in FIG. 33.The hyperlink request records the IDs of the requesting user andprinter, and identifies the clicked hyperlink instance 10862. The pageserver then sends its own server ID 10053, the hyperlink request ID, andthe link ID to the application.

The application produces a response document according toapplication-specific logic, and obtains a document ID 10051 from an IDserver 10012. It then sends the document to the page server 10010 bresponsible for the document's newly allocated ID, together with therequesting page server's ID and the hyperlink request ID.

The second page server sends the hyperlink request ID and application IDto the first page server to obtain the corresponding user ID and printerID 10062. The first page server rejects the request if the hyperlinkrequest has expired or is for a different application.

The second page server allocates document instance and page IDs 10050,returns the newly allocated page IDs to the application, adds thecomplete document to its own database, and finally sends the pagedescriptions to the requesting printer.

The hyperlink instance may include a meaningful transaction ID 10055, inwhich case the first page server includes the transaction ID in themessage sent to the application. This allows the application toestablish a transaction-specific context for the hyperlink activation.

If the hyperlink requires a user alias, i.e. its “alias required”attribute is set, then the first page server sends both the pen ID 10061and the hyperlink's application ID 10064 to the registration server10011 to obtain not just the user ID corresponding to the pen ID butalso the alias ID 10065 corresponding to the application ID and the userID. It includes the alias ID in the message sent to the application,allowing the application to establish a user-specific context for thehyperlink activation.

Competition Entry

The invention utilises the hyperlabel/netpage technology as an efficientand effective vehicle for competition entry. The competition entryinteractions are depicted in FIG. 3. An entry form is printed on aproduct item 30 which is read by a sensing device, such as pen 20. Whena user (entrant) invokes a function on the entry form, the interactiondata is sent to the netpage System, from the user's netpage pen 20, viawireless communication (A). The interaction data is transmitted from thepen to the user's netpage base station 31. The netpage base station 31may be the user's mobile phone or PDA, or it may be some other netpagedevice, such as a PC. The interaction data is relayed (B) to theHyperlabel™ server 32 and then on (C) to a competition administrator,which is normally a manufacturer server 33. The Hyperlabel™ server 32knows the manufacturer server 33 to send the message to form theapplication ID. On receipt of the interaction data, the applicationidentifies the desired response and sends the appropriateaction/response message (D) to the Hyperlabel™ server 32. TheHyperlabel™ server 32, as part of the netpage system, can know theidentity and devices of the user. The Hyperlabel™ server 32 will relay(E) the manufacturer server's response to the user's phone 34 or (F) Webbrowsing device 35, as appropriate. If the user's netpage pen 20 hasLEDs then the Hyperlabel™ server 32 can send a command (H) to the user'spen to light the appropriate LED(s).

When a user commences interaction between their netpage pen and thecompetition entry form (product label) they become an entrant to thecompetition. The terms ‘entrant’ and ‘user’ are used interchangeablywith the particular term used being dependent on the context forclarity. It is desirable that every user has their own pen so that theirpersonal profile is recorded against the unique pen ID. However, aretailer could maintain a stock of pens that are assigned to users whenthey shop at the retailer. For instance, the user may register at akiosk on arrival or at a retail outlet. The unique ID of the pen isassociated with the user for the duration of shopping. The privacy ofthe user can be maintained in the manner described below. Alternatively,a user may be able to temporarily acquire a pen at the checkout for useduring processing of their purchases.

Competition Entry User Interface

The Hyperlabel™ competition entry form may be printed on any surfacesuch as a product brochure, product packaging or a form available at theplace of purchase. A user may enter a competition using a single clickof the pen, or by drawing, writing, or answering questions. The user mayalso click a button on the competition entry form to check the status ofthe competition.

The Competition Entry Form user interface flow is shown in FIG. 4. Theprimary user interface is the entry form shown in FIG. 5. There arethree types of regions on the entry form: ‘information fields’ that showinformation about the competition; ‘buttons’ that generate actions; and‘entry fields’ for user input.

The information fields include the competition name 50, description 51,and conditions 52. The buttons include <More Info> 53, <Submit Entry>54, <Print> 55 and <Have I Won?> 56. The entry fields include textregions 57 where a user is invited to write a few words in answer to aquestion, check boxes 58 and a signature field 59.

The user presses the <More Info> button 53 to query more details aboutthe competition. The Competition Details, shown in FIG. 6, are displayedon the user's default Web display terminal. The competition detailsincludes the competition name, description, conditions, start date, enddate, any other competition details, and details of the prizes beingoffered. The default WeB display terminal may be the user's mobile phoneor PDA, or it may be a display provided by the retailer for the purpose.

The user enters text, and ticks check boxes to answer questions relatingto competition entry. The user signs the form in the signature field tocertify that they meet the minimum age requirements for competitionentry. The user presses the <Submit Entry> button to submit the entry tothe manufacturer via the netpage base station and hyperlabel server, asdepicted in FIG. 3. The privacy of the user is protected by transmittinganonymous information to the manufacturer, as explained in more detailbelow. An Entry Confirmation Message is sent to the user, as shown inFIG. 7.

At any time after submitting an entry the user can press the <Have IWon?> button. The user is sent an Entry Status Message, as shown in FIG.8. The Entry Status Message gives the competition name, the date andtime the entry was submitted and the prize details. The user presses the<Claim Prize> button to opt-in and reveal their identity to themanufacturer. If the user does not wish to reveal their information theycan push the <No Thanks> button and opt-out.

In most cases the manufacturer will wish to collect demographicinformation before releasing a prize, however it is possible to issue aprize token irrespective of the information collected. In either case, aClaim Prize message is sent to the user, as shown in FIG. 9.

The user presses the <Print> button on the competition entry form toprint the competition entry form on a netpage printer. This allows theuser to complete an entry form on paper rather than using the packaging.In some cases, product packaging may be on a material that cannot easilybe written on, for example, a foil or plastic chip packet. In this caseit will also be necessary to print the entry form. The netpage printermay be a personal printer owned by a user who personally owns a netpagepen. Alternatively the retailer may provide a netpage printer at thepoint of sale. The entry form is then completed by the method describedabove.

Competition Entry Interaction Detail

As described above, a Hyperlabel™ competition entry form can containprinted text, various types of input fields such as check boxes, textinput fields, drawing input fields or signature fields, and controlbuttons. The form may contain printed control buttons to submit theuser's entry, or check the status of the user's entry.

A competition may be managed by the manufacturer, or the manufacturermay outsource the running of the competition to a third partycompetition management service.

The interaction detail for manufacturer Entry is shown in FIG. 10. Thenetpage user writes on an entry form and clicks a button to submit theentry. The netpage pen 20 sends the pen id, the product's item ID andthe digital ink to the Hyperlabel™ server 32 via the netpage basestation 31 (FIG. 3). The Hyperlabel™ server 32 sends the pen ID to thenetpage Registration server 100, along with the digital ink from thesignature field, if appropriate. The netpage Registration server 100uses the pen ID to determine the netpage user id, and then allocates acompetition alias ID and verifies the user signature. The competitionalias id is a random number allocated by the netpage System in order tomaintain the user's anonymity. The Hyperlabel™ server 32 converts thetransmitted digital ink into form data, and sends the competition aliasid, form data and signature verification status to the manufacturerserver 33. The manufacturer server 33 validates the entry and, if valid,returns the competition alias ID and an entry confirmation message tothe Hyperlabel™ server 32. The Hyperlabel™ server 32 sends thecompetition alias ID to the Registration server 100 which returns thedefault terminal ID for the user's default Web browsing device. TheHyperlabel™ server 32 then sends an entry confirmation message to theterminal id, which may be the user's preferred web display device, suchas a PDA 35. Alternatively, the terminal is the device via which theinput came.

The interaction detail for a Competition Win is shown in FIG. 11. When acompetition winner is decided the manufacturer server 33 sends thewinner's competition alias ID and the “You Have Won” message to theHyperlabel™ server 32. The Hyperlabel™ server 32 sends the competitionalias ID to the registration server 100 which translates this to thenetpage user ID and returns the terminal ID of the user's default Webdisplay device 35, such as PDA. The Hyperlabel™ server 32 then sends thecompetition alias id, terminal ID and “You Have Won” message to user'sWeb display device 35. The user then responds and the Web display device35 sends the user's competition alias ID and their opt-in response tothe Hyperlabel™ server 32. The Hyperlabel™ server 32 sends thecompetition alias id to the registration server which returns the user'sdetails.

The Hyperlabel™ server 32 then sends the competition alias ID, theopt-in response and the user's details to the manufacturer server.

Alternatively opt-in may be optional and the user may be able to collecttheir prize anonymously from a retailer or other prize collection point,as described in detail below.

Single-click competition entry is possible provided no other user-inputinformation is required by the manufacturer. The user clicks on the<Submit Entry> button on the competition entry form and this results ina competition entry being sent to the manufacturer.

Alternatively, competition entry may require the user to write or drawsomething on the entry form, answer multiple choice questions, or tickcheck boxes. In this case, the user fills out the required fields usingtheir netpage pen, and then clicks on the <Submit Entry> button.

Manufacturers do not need to publish all Hyperlabel™ items as instancesto a netpage Server. Instead, the instance is published on demand, thefirst time the label is used. The product item ID is allocated as theunique transaction ID for the page instance. In the case of the userpressing the <Print> button, a new copy of the form is printed to theuser's netpage printer. The page instance is given the same transactionID (i.e. the product id), effectively superseding the original version,and preventing the original from being re-used.

Similarly, an entry form could contain a <Copy> button so that a copy ofthe entry form may be transferred to the user's Web browsing deviceallowing the user to fill in the entry form from the device and submitthe entry to the manufacturer. In all these cases the entry form“replaces” the original. The original entry form, say from the productpackaging, cannot be re-used to enter the competition multiple times.

User Contact and Feedback

The netpage System can limit feedback from the manufacturer to the user.A contact count may be kept which tracks the number of times themanufacturer has contacted the user. For example, a manufacturer may bepermitted to send up to a limit of three messages to the user inrelation to a competition. The manufacturer may send the user an “EntryReceived” message, a “Competition Closing Soon” message, and then a“Competition Results” message. The netpage system can manage this typeof contact and still maintain the user's anonymity through the use of acompetition alias id.

The contact count will have a maximum value after which contact with theuser is disabled. The maximum value for the contact count may be pre-setand notified to the user on the competition entry form. Alternatively,the maximum value may be a value that is able to be set by the user atthe time of competition entry by interaction of the sensing device witha check box or data entry field on the competition entry form.

The user can get feedback in a variety of ways. The user's transactionmay direct a Web page to be displayed on the user's PC, PDA or other Webbrowsing device. The output device is the device via which the pen inputcomes, or alternatively it is an output device registered to the user orto the pen. An email, SMS, page message, voicemail message or phone callmay be sent to the user from the manufacturer via the Hyperlabel™ server(which can maintain the user's anonymity). Each time the manufacturersends a message to the user the contact count is incremented for theuser. This is used to limit the number of times a manufacturer cancontact the user.

The user's netpage pen may have colored LEDs which can be used toprovide feedback. For example, if the user presses a <Have I Won?>button, a query is sent to the manufacturer as to the status of thecompetition in relation to this user. The user's pen may show a greenlight if the user has won the competition, an orange light may indicatethe competition is not yet decided, and a red light may indicate thatthe competition is closed and the user has not won.

This type of query and feedback mechanism may be handled by the netpagesystem, or alternatively the query may be passed to the manufacturer'sserver. If the status request message is sent to the manufacturer'sserver it has a “one-time-use” return path which allows the manufacturerto send a response to the user. Another model for feedback is the“blackboard model”. This “blackboard” refers to a general location, suchas a Web page, where the manufacturer can post information. The user canquery this location to read the information while maintaining theiranonymity.

Entry Validation

The Hyperlabel™ server 32, manufacturer server 33, or a competitionmanagement service can validate each competition entry. The uniqueproduct item ID enables the manufacturer to verify that the item waslegitimately purchased, assuming that this information is sent from theretail system to manufacturer's system at the time of sale. It alsoallows the manufacturer to verify that there is a single competitionentry per item.

Validation of any input fields can be performed if required. Forexample, the user may be required to write a description of why theywould like to win the competition in twenty words or less. Validationcan be performed to count the number of words written on the form, andreject the entry if necessary.

The competition conditions may limit the number of entries per user. Itmay not be possible for the manufacturer to perform this validation,depending on how the user's alias ID has been allocated, however atrusted identity management service, and/or the netpage system, canperform this validation on behalf of the manufacturer.

The competition entry form preferably has a signature field 59 (FIG. 5).This may have a variety of purposes, such as providing a declarationthat the user meets entry age requirements. The user's signature willprove the identity of the user to the netpage system, so competitionentry conditions, such as a minimum age requirement, can be verified bythe netpage system prior to the entry being accepted and forwarded tothe manufacturer. In the netpage System, a signature field has anassociated digital signature value. Any digital ink captured in asignature field's zone is automatically verified with respect to theidentity of the owner of the pen. No signature digital ink or digitalsignature value is passed to the manufacturer, but the netpage systemwill verify the signature and set a flag indicating the verificationstatus of the digital signature.

If an entry fails to meet the entry requirements it can be rejected and,optionally, a message can be sent to the user via one of the feedbackmechanisms described above.

User Anonymity

As mentioned above, the anonymity of the user can be maintainedthroughout a competition. When the competition entry is sent to acompetition administrator such as a supplier or product manufacturer,the user's identity is protected by the netpage system. The user mayremain anonymous to the product manufacturer until such time as theychoose to authorize the manufacturer to access their identity andcontact details.

Alternatively, the manufacturer may choose to use a trusted third-partyidentity escrow service to manage the user's anonymity. The third-partywould be trusted by the netpage system to manage the user's identity andmaintain the user's anonymity until such time as the user authorizes thethird party to reveal the user's identity.

When a user requests a netpage in a particular application context, theapplication is able to embed a user-specific transaction ID in the page.Subsequent input through the page is tagged with the transaction ID, andthe application is thereby able to establish an appropriate context forthe user's input.

When input occurs through a page which is not user-specific, however,the application must use the user's unique identity to establish acontext. To protect the user's privacy, however, the unique user IDknown to the netpage system is not divulged to applications. This is toprevent different application providers from easily correlatingindependently accumulated behavioral data.

The netpage registration server instead maintains an anonymousrelationship between a user and an application via a unique alias ID.Whenever the user activates a hyperlink tagged with the “registered”attribute, the netpage page server asks the netpage registration serverto translate the associated application ID, together with the pen ID,into an alias ID. The alias ID is then submitted to the hyperlink'sapplication.

The application maintains state information indexed by alias ID, and isable to retrieve user-specific state information without knowledge ofthe global identity of the user.

The system also maintains an independent certificate and privatesignature key for each of a user's applications, to allow it to signapplication transactions on behalf of the user using onlyapplication-specific information.

A user's competition alias ID may be unique to a netpage user andcompetition ID combination. In other words a netpage user would have aunique competition alias ID for each competition they entered. If amanufacturer were running more than one competition then the user wouldhave more than one competition alias id. The manufacturer would not beaware of the connection between the competition alias IDs unless theuser opted in and revealed their identity for each competition.

An alternative approach is that the competition alias ID is unique to anetpage user and manufacturer combination. If a manufacturer runsseveral competitions then a single competition alias ID will be used forall the user's entries to these competitions. The manufacturer candetermine if a single netpage user has entered multiple competitions. Ifthe user opts in and reveals their identity in one competition, themanufacturer can correlate the user's identity with a competition aliasID across the multiple competitions. The competition alias ID maypersist even after a competition closes.

Another possibility is that a user's competition alias ID is unique to anetpage user and competition entry combination. In this case themanufacturer could not tell if a single netpage user had entered thesame competition more than once.

The object model in this document uses the competition alias ID asunique to a netpage user/manufacturer ID combination, but other methodsfor allocating a competition alias ID are possible.

Another approach to maintaining anonymity of an entrant to a competition(user) is to provide a temporary telecommunication address as an aliasto the actual telecommunication address recorded for the user of thesensing device. As shown in FIG. 3 and described above, interaction ofthe netpage pen 20 with a product item 30 results in interaction data tothe user's netpage base station 31 and on to Hyperlabel™ server 32. TheHyperlabel™ server 32 maintains a database of registered users ofnetpage pens and can access details of the user, such as thetelecommunication address of the user's preferred telecommunicationdevice, be it a PDA, mobile phone, or other similar device. Thehyperlabel server can generate a temporary telecommunication address tosubstitute for the actual telecommunication address, thus maintainingthe anonymity of the telecommunication address of the user from themanufacturer server 33.

When the manufacturer server 33 sends a message to the temporarytelecommunication address, the hyperlabel server forwards the message tothe telecommunication address of the user.

A temporary telecommunication address can be associated with atelecommunication address of a competition entrant by any appropriateassociating means. The task may be performed by the Hyperlabel™ server32 as described, by the netpage base station 31, by the registrationserver 100, or by an additional server in the system programmed for thetask, such as an escrow server associated with the manufacturer server.

One approach to generating the temporary telecommunication address is touse encryption algorithms to generate an encrypted telecommunicationaddress for an entrant. The encrypted telecommunication address is usedfor communication to and from the manufacturer server. It is decryptedbefore any communication is forwarded to the entrant.

The server that generates the temporary telecommunication address mayalso maintain a counter to monitor the number of times communication isforwarded to the telecommunication address of the entrant. A limit canbe placed on the number of times information is forwarded.

Prize Collection at Retailer

If a competition user is eligible for a prize they may be able tocollect the prize directly from a retailer or other prize collectionpoint. The user may be able to collect their prize but remain anonymous.The user only needs to provide something that can identify them as beinga specific competition user. If the user has collected a pen from aretailer for the duration of their shopping trip the need foridentification will be automatically satisfied.

When the user is notified that they have won a prize they may collectthe item they have won from the store shelf and take it to the servicedesk. Alternatively the service desk may hold the prizes in reserve.

The service operator may have a Hyperlabel™ prize form from themanufacturer, listing the prizes available in the competition. Theredemption form may be printed by the operator on demand. The formidentifies the retailer and potentially the operator's terminal. ThePrize Collection at Retailer interaction diagram is shown in FIG. 12 andthe interaction detail is shown in FIG. 13. The user clicks their pen 20on the prize redemption form 121 provided by the service operator inorder to identify themselves (A) to the netpage base station 31 as aparticular competition user. Alternatively, the user's pen may be aHyperlabel™, allowing the operator to scan the user's pen at theterminal, in order to verify the user's identity. Other forms ofidentification that may be provided by the user are possible, andinclude a rewards card, a prize token, a mobile phone or PDA etc.

The digital ink and the user's pen ID are sent (B) from the netpage pen20 via a netpage base station 31 to the Hyperlabel™ server 32. TheHyperlabel™ server 32 translates the digital ink, and sends the pen idto the registration server 100, which returns the pen user's competitionalias ID. The competition ID, retailer details (identifying the store,operator and service terminal), and competition alias ID are sent (C) tothe manufacturer's server 33 which looks up the prize(s) won by thisuser.

The manufacturer's server 33 may send (D) the prize details to the storeserver 130 for notification (E) to the operator's service terminal 131.The operator can then scan (F) the items 132 being redeemed with a fixedlocal scanner 133. Details of the scanned item go (G) to the storeserver 130, and the store server 130 sends a message back (H) to themanufacturer's server 33 indicating the item ID of the prizes 132collected by the competition user.

Alternatively, the manufacturer server 33 may send a yes or no answer tothe store server 130, indicating whether the user is eligible for anyprizes, along with a redemption ID for the competition user. Theredemption ID is a temporary transaction ID. The store server 130 thensends a message to the operator's service terminal 131 putting theterminal into a prize redemption mode. The operator may then scan theitem(s) being claimed by the user. The redemption ID and item ID aresent back to the manufacturer's server 33 to validate whether this itemcan be claimed by the competition user.

Rather than a user being eligible for a prize of a single specificproduct, there may be a prize list from which the user can choose. Theprizes may vary and be specific to a store or retail chain. This allowsmore flexibility for competitions and rewards schemes.

Instant Win

A variation on competition entry often used by manufacturers is theconcept of “instant win”. An Instant Win Competition user interface flowis shown in FIG. 14. The user answers the questions on the Instant WinEntry Form 150, as shown in FIG. 15, and presses the <Submit Entry>button 151. The Instant Win Prize Claim message 170 is sent to the user,as shown in FIG. 16. The user presses the <Print Coupon> button 171 toprint the prize claim coupon on a netpage printer.

As with the competition entry described above, the user may press the<Print> button 152 on the instant win entry form to print the entry formon a netpage printer. This allows the user to complete an entry form onpaper rather than using the packaging.

The competition entry form, in this case, may or may not includequestions that the user must answer. The user clicks on the <SubmitEntry> button 151 and the entry is sent to a competition administratorsuch as the manufacturer server. If the entry meets the competition'sentry requirements the user is automatically eligible to claim themanufacturer's offer. The product item id, obtained from the packageHyperlabel™, allows the manufacturer to verify that the product waslegitimately purchased before allowing the user to claim a prize. Italso allows the manufacturer to verify that there is a singlecompetition entry per item.

The manufacturer may send a message to the user's Web display device, orthrough some other feedback, instructing them how to claim the prize.The user may remain anonymous and collect their prize from the retaileras described above. Alternatively, the user may be required to revealtheir identity in order that the prize can be delivered. Anotheralternative is that an instant win coupon 140 (FIG. 14) is printed,which can be redeemed for a prize. The coupon is printed with a serialnumber, and may be a netpage coupon i.e., invisibly tagged. Theinteraction detail for prize collection using a coupon is shown in FIG.17.

A prize may be redeemed by the user taking the coupon to the operatorservice terminal 131 where the coupon is scanned and digital ink is sentto the store server 130. The store server 130 sends the digital ink andretailer details to the Hyperlabel™ server 32 that sends the digital inkto the registration server 100 which returns a competition alias ID. TheHyperlabel™ server 32 sends the retailer details, competition ID,competition alias ID and coupon number to the manufacturer server 33 forverification and authentication. The manufacturer server sends amanufacturer ID, competition ID, competition alias ID and prize listback to the store server 130 which passes the data to the operatorservice terminal 131. The user chooses a prize from the prize list andthe operator service terminal 131 reports this to the store server withthe manufacturer ID, competition ID and competition alias ID, which arepassed to the manufacturer server 33 as confirmation.

It will be appreciated that the user may remain anonymous throughout theinstant win coupon prize collection process.

Token Collection

Another form of purchase incentive often employed by productmanufacturers is that of token or coupon collection. This refers to somemechanism whereby a consumer provides proof of purchase for one or moreproducts and a coupon administrator, such as a manufacturer, in returnprovides some form of reward.

This type of scheme can easily be implemented with Hyperlabel™packaging. The packaging can be printed with details of the offer and a<Token> button. The user clicks on the <Token> button on the requirednumber of products, and is then eligible for the manufacturer's offers.

The product Hyperlabel™ provides the product's unique item id. Thisallows the manufacturer or third-party competition manager to validatethat each <Token> button is from a separate product, and not multiple<Token> presses on the same item. The product item ID also enables themanufacturer to verify that the item was legitimately purchased, therebypreventing a user from claiming an offer by clicking on <Token> buttonsin-store. Further, the product item ID allows the manufacturer tovalidate that each token is used by a single user.

Once the conditions of the offer have been met, the user may be requiredto explicitly provide their contact details to the manufacturer. Amessage may be sent from the manufacturer or competition manager to theuser requesting this information. Alternatively the user may becontacted and asked to merely press a button, or perhaps provide theirsignature, which authorizes the netpage system to send the user contactinformation to the manufacturer. This type of communication with theuser occurs in the usual way e.g. via the user's Web terminal, mobilephone etc.

Alternatively, once the conditions of the offer have been met, the usermay print a coupon which can be presented to a retailer for prizeredemption (as described above). Another alternative is the user maycollect their prize direct from a retailer or other prize collectionpoint as described earlier. This type of collection may allow the userto collect their prize anonymously.

Rewards Scheme

In a variation on the competition mechanism already described, a rewardsscheme can be implemented in a similar way to the token collectionscenario. A user may have a rewards scheme card which allows the user toaccumulate points towards prizes or rewards. The card may be aHyperlabel™ to allow a store operator to scan it.

Each card has a unique identifier. A rewards scheme may be offered by amanufacturer, or by a particular store, retail chain, or serviceprovider.

A Hyperlabel™ rewards card need not be identified as belonging to aparticular netpage user, but can be associated with a competition user.The card may have a button which, when clicked, allows the user to queryhow many points they have accumulated, displaying the result on theirdefault Web terminal.

Points may be accumulated in a variety of ways. The rewards card may bescanned by a store operator at the time of product purchase.Alternatively the netpage user may claim points by clicking on therelevant items they have purchased. More points may be offered by thescheme owner based on the level of participation by the user, forexample, if the user opts in to allowing email notifications of specialoffers or new products they may receive bonus points.

Dynamic User Registration

The netpage system allows for dynamic user registration if a user and/orsensing device are not already registered with the computer system. Mostof the scenarios mentioned above rely on the netpage registration server(or equivalent server) identifying the user's netpage user id and theassociated web display terminal id from the pen id. If the user or penis not already registered with the netpage system, the user may bedynamically registered with the netpage system when they first interactwith a competition entry form.

When the netpage Registration server receives an unknown pen id itallocates a temporary netpage user id. The default return messagingchannel is set to point to the device that relayed the pen's message,such as a mobile phone, PDA or PC. The return messaging channel may beidentified by a phone number, pager number, PDA network address (e.g. IPaddress, MAC address etc.), email address, network subscriber identifieretc. The relaying device either explicitly includes the return channeladdress in the message relayed to the Hyperlabel™ server (and hence tothe Registration server), or the Hyperlabel™ server determines theaddress in a protocol-specific way. For example, the Hyperlabel™ servermay extract the IP address of the relaying device from the message ifdelivered via an IP network, or may use Caller Identification or someother telephone network mechanism to determine the phone number of therelaying device. In the case of an IP address the Hyperlabel™ server mayassume a standard port number for the return messaging channel. Dynamicregistration is only really useful if a return messaging channel can beidentified. The temporary netpage user id may be maintained forever oronly for the duration of the competition.

Competition Entry Object Model

The Competition Entry object model revolves around competitions,competition entries, and competition users. FIG. 18 illustrates themanagement and organisation of these objects. The Manufacturer orCompetition Management Server 180 manages the competition andcompetition prizes. The Hyperlabel™/netpage System 181 manages thecompetition entry (hyperlabel server 33) and user interface(registration server 100)

A competition class diagram is shown in FIG. 19. A manufacturer may havemany competitions. Each competition is associated with a product classand a manufacturer. A competition has a unique competition id, a name,description, a start date and end date, status, conditions, age limit,and other details. The status indicates whether a competition is open,i.e. no winner had yet been drawn, or closed i.e. the winner(s) havebeen decided and no more entries are being accepted. The age limitindicates the minimum age requirements (if any) for any user submittingan entry.

Associated with each competition, and managed by theHyperlabel™™/netpage system, is a competition limits object comprising acontact limit. The contact limit indicates the maximum number of times acompetition user may be contacted by the manufacturer in relation tothis competition. The Competition Limits class diagram is shown in FIG.20.

A competition has one or more prizes. Each competition prize has a prizenumber which is unique within a competition, details (giving adescription of the prize), and a prize status. The prize statusindicates if the prize has been redeemed, drawn but not yet redeemed, ornot yet drawn. When a winner is drawn for a competition, the competitionuser is associated with the relevant prize and the prize status isupdated.

Each competition will have a large number of competition entries. TheCompetition Entry class diagram is shown in FIG. 21. Each competitionentry is associated with a product item. Each competition entry has anentry id, unique within the competition, and the date and time the entrywas received. A competition entry can have a number of entry elements,depending on the input fields on the entry form. The entry may have atext element, for user entered text, a drawing element for auser-entered drawing, a multiple-choice option number (if the entrycontained a multiple-choice question), and a signature verificationstatus. The competition entry may have a token element if thecompetition entry conditions involve collecting tokens.

A netpage user can enter many competitions. The Competition User classdiagram is shown in FIG. 22. A netpage user is allocated a competitionalias id. The netpage user may be allocated a unique competition aliasID for each manufacturer, and this alias ID will be used for allcompetitions associated with this manufacturer. Another alternative isthat the netpage user may be allocated a unique competition alias ID foreach competition they enter. Regardless of how the competition alias IDis allocated, the competition user object comprises the competitionalias id, a contact count indicating how many times the manufacturer hascontacted the user, and an opt in flag. The opt in flag is set to trueif the user has agreed to reveal their identity and contact details tothe manufacturer for the purposes of claiming an offer.

A netpage user has a default Web terminal, with an associated terminalid. This is the default Web display device for the user. The Default WebTerminal class diagram is shown in FIG. 23.

As described in the section on Dynamic User Registration, the netpageregistration server may allocate a temporary user id the first time auser enters a competition using a sensing device that has not previouslybeen registered. Part of the temporary user id is record al of a returnmessaging channel, which may be a phone number, pager number, PDAnetwork address, email address, subscriber id, or similar communicationchannel. A class diagram for the temporary user is shown in FIG. 32.

Although specific reference is made to a netpage pen, any netpagesensing device can be used. Specific reference is made to a Hyperlabel™server, which is a specific instance of a netpage page server, and to aregistration server. The registration server and the Hyperlabel servercan be the same server.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant fields that anumber of other embodiments, differing from those specificallydescribed, will fall within the scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specificembodiments described in the specification, including documentsincorporated by cross-reference as appropriate.

Loyalty Schemes

It will be appreciated that the tokens can be related to participationin a loyalty or reward scheme, in which points are allocated topurchases made by a user. Upon accumulating sufficient points, users canexchange the points for goods or services, or for upgrades or discountson goods and services they wish to pay for.

An example of such a scheme is any of the bonus programs run by variousgroups of airlines, in which discounts, upgrades and free flights can beearned by accumulating points based on distances flown using affiliatedairlines. Points can also be accumulated by purchasing goods andservices at certain outlets, and using certain credit facilities such asparticular brands of credit card.

In the present context, points can be collected and allowed toaccumulate over time by interacting with tokens on product labels ofproducts. Each token can be worth a fixed number of points, althoughspecial bonus offers for interacting with multiple tokens of aparticular type, or a particular combination of tokens from differentproducts or product types. Promotions can be run whereby the pointsassociated with a particular token or tokens can temporarily beincreased in a store or chain of stores.

If the user is registered with a particular program, a catalogue can beaccessed online (or sent periodically) informing the user of what theycan purchase for various predetermined numbers of accumulated points. Ifthe catalogue is provided in printed form, it is particularly desirablethat it be netpage enabled, which allows the registered user to select(via a checkbox, circling gesture, or in any other suitable fashion)which goods or services they wish to purchase. The system can be set upsuch that ordering and delivery of the chosen goods or services requiresno filling in of forms, or phone calls.

Similarly, if the catalogue is provided by an electronic deliverymechanism such as email, it is preferred that it include data such thatprinting it on a netpage-enabled printer results in a netpage-enableddocument that can be interacted with as described above.

The user can also be spent special offers that are likely to be ofinterest given such information as past purchases (both via thecatalogue and as part of obtaining the tokens/points in the first place)and the number of points they have accumulated.

1. A product label provided on a product item for enabling entry to acompetition, the product label comprising: machine-readable coded dataindicative of at least an identity of the label and being uniquelyindicative of the product item, said machine-readable coded data beingreadable by a sensing device as the sensing device is moved across theproduct label, thereby to produce interaction data for enabling thecompetition entry; human-readable information pertaining to thecompetition, the human-readable information being at least partiallycoincident with the machine-readable coded data, the human-readableinformation including at least one field element that has acorresponding zone defined in relation to it in a page descriptionstored in a remote computer system; and wherein the product label isattached to the product item.
 2. The product label of claim 1, whereinthe at least one field element includes at least one information field.3. The product label of claim 1, wherein the at least one field elementincludes at least one button field, and at least some of the coded dataat least partially coincident with or adjacent the button field.
 4. Theproduct label of claim 1, wherein the at least one field elementincludes at least one entry field.
 5. The product label of claim 4,wherein the entry field is a text entry field, and at least some of thecoded data at least partially coincident with or adjacent the text entryfield.
 6. The product label of claim 4, wherein the entry field is asignature entry field, and at least some of the coded data at leastpartially coincident with or adjacent the signature entry field.
 7. Theproduct label of claim 4, wherein the entry field is a drawing entryfield, and at least some of the coded data at least partially coincidentwith or adjacent the drawing entry field.
 8. The product label of claim1, including further human-readable information that is not at leastpartially coincident with the coded data, the further human-readableinformation including information about the competition.
 9. The productlabel of claim 4, wherein the coded data at least partially coincidentwith the entry field is configured such that a sensing device operatedby a user can read at least some of the coded data over time to generatemovement data indicative of movement of the sensing device relative tothe entry field.
 10. The product label of claim 1, wherein at least someof the coded data includes a label identifier.
 11. The product label ofclaim 10, wherein the label identifier is a unique product itemidentifier.
 12. The product label of claim 11, wherein the uniqueproduct item identifier is an electronic product code.
 13. The productlabel of claim 12, wherein the coded data is substantially invisible toa human.
 14. A product label according to claim 1, the product labelbeing used in a method including the steps of: receiving, in a computersystem, interaction data from a sensing device, the interaction datarepresenting interaction of the sensing device wit the coded data on theproduct label, the interaction data allowing the competition entry to beelectronically captured in the computer system; and transmitting thecompetition entry to a competition administrator.
 15. A product labelaccording to claim 1, the product label being used in a method includingthe steps, performed in a computer system, of: receiving interactiondata representing interaction of a sensing device with the coded data,the interaction data enabling the competition entry to be electronicallycaptured in the computer system; assigning a competition alias ID to thecompetition entry; and transmitting the competition entry to acompetition administrator with the competition alias ID, therebyenabling the anonymous entry to the competition.
 16. A product labelaccording to claim 1, the competition being entered by interaction of asensing device with a product label to generate interaction dataindicative of at least an intention to enter the competition, the methodincluding the steps, performed in a computer system, of: identifying afirst telecommunication address of the entrant from: an identity of thesensing device received or determined in the computer system; or theinteraction data; associating a temporary telecommunication address withthe first telecommunication address; sending the temporarytelecommunication address and interaction data to a competitionadministrator; receiving, from the competition administrator,information from the competition administrator addressed to saidtemporary telecommunication address; and forwarding the information fromthe competition administrator to the first telecommunication address.17. A product label according to claim 1, product label being used in amethod comprising the steps, performed in a computer system, of: (a)receiving interaction data representing the interaction of the sensingdevice with the coded data, the interaction data enabling thecompetition entry to be electronically captured in the computer system;(b) transmitting the competition entry to the competition administrator;and (c) enabling transmission of up to a predetermined number ofelectronic messages from the competition administrator to the entrant.18. A product label according to claim 1, for limiting communicationbetween an application and a user, via a sensing device interacting withmachine-readable coded data printed on a surface, the product labelbeing used in a method comprising the steps, performed in a computersystem, of: (a) receiving interaction data representing the interactionof the sensing device with the coded data, the interaction data enablingidentification of the application; (b) transmitting information based onat least some of the interaction data to the application; and (c)enabling transmission of up to a predetermined number of electronicmessages from the application to the user.
 19. A product label accordingto claim 1, for enabling an entrant to enter an instant win competitionvia a printed competition entry form that includes machine-readablecoded data that can be sensed by a sensing device configured to generateinteraction data based on the sensed coded data, the product label beingused in a method comprising the steps, performed in a computer system,of: receiving the interaction data representing interaction of thesensing device with the coded data, the interaction data enabling thecompetition entry to be captured in the computer system; transmittingthe competition entry to a competition administrator that is configuredto determine whether the competition entry is an instant win entry. 20.A product label according to claim 1, for enabling anonymous electronicredemption of a coupon printed as part of a product label, the productlabel including machine-readable coded data, the product label beingused in a method including the steps, performed in a computer system,of: receiving interaction data representing interaction of a sensingdevice with the coded data, the interaction data enabling electroniccapture of: coupon data of the coupon; and a product identifierassociated with the product label; assigning a competition alias ID tothe coupon data; and transmitting the coupon data, the productidentifier and the competition alias ID to a coupon administratorconfigured to redeem the coupon electronically.
 21. A product labelaccording to claim 1, for enabling anonymous and electronic redemption aplurality of coupons, wherein each the plurality of coupons is disposedon a product label and includes coded data that can be used to determinea unique product identifier of the product label with which it isassociated, the product label being used in a method including the stepsof: using a sensing device, and for each of the plurality of coupons:(a) generating interaction data by sensing at least some of the codeddata of the coupon, the interaction data representing interaction of thesensing device wit the coded data; and (b) forwarding the interactiondata to a computer system, for enabling the coupon offer and the productidentifier associated with the product label to be capturedelectronically in the computer system, thereby enabling the computersystem to transmit the coupon offer and the product identifier to acoupon administrator; and receiving coupon redemption information fromthe coupon administrator after a predetermined combination of couponoffers relating to a plurality of the product identifiers and or couponoffers has been transmitted to the coupon administrator.
 22. A productlabel according to claim 1, for enabling entry to a competition using aprinted competition entry form including coded dada readable by asensing device as the sensing device is used to interact with the entryform, the product label being used in a method including the steps,performed in a computer system, of: receiving, from the sensing device:interaction data representing interaction of the sensing device with thecoded data, the interaction data enabling the competition entry to beelectronically captured in the computer system; and a sensing device IDof the sensing device; allocating a temporary registration to thesensing device ID or to a user of the sensing device, the registrationincluding a return electronic address associated with the sensing deviceID or the user; transmitting the competition entry to a competitionadministrator; and verifying competition entry via the return electronicaddress.
 23. A product label according to claim 1, for validating entryto a competition via interaction of a sensing device with a printedcompetition entry form comprising coded data indicative of a uniqueproduct identifier, the product label being used in a method comprisingthe steps, performed in the computer system of: receiving, from thesensing device, the product identifier and interaction data representinginteraction of the sensing device with the coded data, the interactiondata including at least the unique product identifier and enabling acompetition entry to be electronically captured in the computer system;and transmitting the product identifier and the competition entry to acompetition administrator for validation of the competition entry at thecompetition administrator by verification of the product identifier. 24.A method of entering a competition using a printed label that includes:machine-readable coded data indicative of at least an identity of thelabel and being uniquely indicative of the product item, saidmachine-readable coded data being readable by a sensing device as thesensing device is moved across the product label, thereby to produceinteraction data for enabling the competition entry; human-readableinformation pertaining to the competition, the human-readableinformation being at least partially coincident wit the machine-readablecoded data, the human-readable information including at least one fieldelement that has a corresponding zone defined in relation to it in apage description stored in a remote computer system; the methodincluding the steps, performed in a computer system, of: receivinginteraction data from a sensing device, the sensing device havinggenerated the interaction data based on coded data it sensed from atleast some of the coded data on the product label as the sensing devicewas used to interact with the product label the interaction datarepresenting interaction of the sensing device with the coded data andenabling the competition entry to be captured electronically in thecomputer system; and transmitting the competition entry to a competitionadministrator.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the interaction dataidentifies the product level and a position of the sensing devicerelative to the product label, the method including the step, performedin the computer system, of identifying the product label.
 26. The methodof claim 25, further including the step of receiving, the computersystem, movement data as part of the interaction data, the movement datarepresenting movement of the sensing device relative to the productlabel.
 27. A method of enabling entry to a competition using a productlabel provided on a product item that includes human-readableinformation relating to a competition and machine-readable coded datarelating to an identity of the label and being uniquely indicative ofthe product item, the human-readable information including at least onefield element that has a corresponding zone defined in relation to it ina page description stored in a remote computer system, the methodincluding the steps of, using a sensing device, of: sensing at leastsome of the coded data as the sensing device is used to interact with atleast one of the at least one field elements; using the sensed codeddata to generate interaction data representing the identity of the labeland a position of the sensing device relative to the interface surface;and transmitting the interaction data to a computer system for enablingentry to the competition via the computer system determining that theinteraction data represents interaction of the sensing device with atleast one of the at least one field elements.
 28. The method of claim27, wherein the coded data is sensed by the sensing device as it ismoved relative to the interface surface, and the sensing device isconfigured to generate movement data as part of the interaction data.29. The method of claim 27, wherein the human-readable informationincludes an action element having a corresponding zone defined inrelation to it in the page description, and wherein the action elementis indicative, to a user, of submitting the entry to the competition,the zone being indicative of a competition entry submission action inthe computer system.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the actionelement is a button.
 31. The method of claim 30, wherein at least someof the coded data includes a label identifier.
 32. The method of claim31, wherein the label identifier is a unique product item identifier.33. The method of claim 32, wherein the unique product item identifieris an electronic product code.
 34. A system for competition entry usingprinted labels provided on a product item, the system comprising: aproduct label attached to the product item including human-readableinformation relating to a competition and machine-readable codedinformation relating to an identity of the label and being uniquelyindicative of the product item, wherein the product label furthercomprises regions selected from the group consisting of informationfields, buttons, and entry fields, wherein the information fields showinformation about the competition, the buttons generate actions via thecomputer system when interacted with by the sensing device, and theentry fields are text regions, where text written within the text fieldusing the sensing device is captured as text in the computer system; asensing device configured to sense the machine-readable coded data asthe sensing device is moved across the product label, and to generateinteraction data based on the sensed coded data; a computer systemprogrammed to correlate the interaction data with a competition and torecord an entry in the competition based on the correlated interactiondata.
 35. The system of claim 34, wherein at least some of the codeddata includes a label identifier.
 36. The system of claim 35, whereinthe label identifier is a unique product item identifier.
 37. The systemof claim 36, wherein the unique product item identifier is an electronicproduct code.
 38. The system of claim 34, further comprising a displaydevice, wherein interacting with at least one of the buttons using thesensing device causes the computer system to display information on thedisplay device.